Ron Paul actually makes Billy O'Reilly think

by Ben Cohen

The only sane Republican in the race for the 2008 presidency, Ron Paul, seems to do the impossible: make Bill O'Reilly think. It's not completely obvious, but you can actually see the right wing shock jock pause for thought on a couple of occasions. He does not agree with Paul, of course, but he does not shout him down or completely disregard his point. Paul discusses the disastrous effects of American foreign policy and lays blame for September 11th on the actions of the U.S Government for the past 60 years. That O'Reilly did not kick him off the air is a major concession. To watch the video, click below:



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Obama loses the plot

By Ben Cohen

Barack Obama's dismissal of the standard 'We Don't talk to our enemies' foreign policy stance was something of a revelation. No mainstream Democratic candidate in recent times has had to guts to go against the party line, but Obama, true to his word was offering a 'different type of politics'.

However, in one swift move, Obama has destroyed his credibility on the topic by announcing he would invade Pakistan if they didn't follow Washington's orders.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will" said Obama in his foreign policy speech on August 1st.

"There must be no safe-haven for terrorists who threaten America. We cannot fail to act because action is hard."

It appears that Obama has fallen into the same ideological trap that has infected American politicians for the past 60 years, believing that U.S interests supersede international law and the national sovereignty of other countries.

To put this in perspective, let us imagine the situation in reverse. Let's say President Musharraf announced he would be sending Pakistani forces to the U.S if they did not clamp down on extreme neo con elements in the White House.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value neo-con targets, and President Bush won't act, we will".

Given America's track record in killing people in the middle east, Musharraf probably has a better case than Obama. But not in the world of American hegemony, where it is one rule for the U.S, and another for everyone else.

The Pakistani government was also unsurprisingly unimpressed with Obama's bluster.

In an interview with AFP Pakistan's Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem said,"Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance."

"They are not fully apprised about the ground realities and not aware of the efforts by Pakistan," he continued.

"We have said before that we will not allow anyone to infringe our sovereignty."

Clearly an attempt to out muscle other Democrats on foreign policy, Obama has sold himself shockingly short of the 'politics of hope' he preached at the beginning of his campaign. If Democrats and people around the world expected something different from Obama, they have been let down badly.

Far from the outsider he has portrayed himself as, it is politics as usual from the Obama campaign.END

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Clinton lectures Obama, calling his comments 'irresponsible' and 'naive'

By Ben Cohen

For reasons best known to herself, Hilary Clinton believes that the United States is too morally superior to speak to its enemies. Having lived through 6 years of atrocious U.S diplomacy, one would have thought Clinton would be more amenable to speaking equally with leaders of other countries. But when Barack Obama stated that he would be willing to hold direct talks with the Venezuelan, Cuban, Iranian and North Korean leaders at the latest Democratic debate, Clinton accused Obama of being 'irresponsible' and 'naive'.

Conveniently forgetting U.S relationships with some of the world's worst human rights abusers that her husband maintained throughout his tenure (Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan and Israel for example), Clinton said that she would speak to the 'axis of evil' countries only 'through envoys' to avoid being 'used for propaganda purposes' (whatever that means).

It is this imperialist attitude that has lead to America's demise in the eyes of the rest of the world, and Clinton would do well to put a lid on it. Lecturing other countries about morality after voting for the illegal invasion of Iraq is hypocritical beyond belief. Obama has quite rationally proposed another doctrine for American policy, and Clinton's absurd rebuke is further proof that she is just another politician not worthy of serious respect. Read more!